Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by peensteen:

Deep orange, slight white head, traces of lace are present. Malty nose, caramel and slight sweet notes, citrus fruit, hoppy in the nose, light grapefruit. Taste is malty, big hop profile, caramel notes come through, lightly sweet, sugary, quite well balanced, grapefruit comes in the finish. Good feel, full body wirth light carbonation. I would classify this as american barleywine and as that it is quite nice, very pleasant and approachable. Thanks to Radek for the sample.

More User Reviews:

(Served in a snifter) tenmiinste hou dbaar tot einde 06 11 lot A A- Dense caramel body with a soapy off-white head that sticks to the glass. There are big bubbles that glide up the glass and support the head for a bit. S- The pungent hop aroma gives way to a soft fresh wort aroma that takes on a wet clay note as it opens up. T- The light slightly sweet pale malt flavor has a watery taste to it with a big pungent bite that lingers after each sip and stains the tongue. The malt gives the perception of sweetness but the rest of the beer is very dry. M- This beer has a medium-light mouthfeel with no alcohol heat noticed. D- The only real flavor was the pungent bitterness of the hops. Not really offensive just nothing else to support it. No malt or hop flavor. I don't know where the alcohol is hiding but it is just not there.

Every time when I drink this beer I forget to review it. Finally I nailed it.

A - A dark orange poor and hardly no head.

S - A strong smell of malt syrup and some piny hops.

T - This is a good brew and it ages pretty good. I had it fresh and this one is about a year old. Man what an excellent taste. The bitter hops are still there and just a little reduced. The malt syrup is noticeable and some of the alcohol content as well.

M - The soft to medium carbonation makes it a pleasure to drink.

O - A good barley wine and would love to see what some more aging will do.

The tastes are citrus bitterness and sugar. Light brown with significant off white retained head and some lace. A nice hoppyness. Bang on an American version of a barleywine, without over the top bitterness. Some spicyness in the aroma and in the taste.Thanks for saving for my birthday, Radek.

Bottle: Poured alight copper color ale with a large foamy head with good retention and some light lacing. Aroma consists of light residual sugar notes and dry caramel malt notes. Taste is quite simple with light residual notes of sugar with dry caramel malt and little else to report. Body is about average with OK carbonation and no apparent alcohol. A bit of a disappointment with no real complexity.

Poured into a Maudite snifter. Pours a dark coppery caramel amber. Thin fine off-white head that slowly dissipates to a ring around the glass. Aroma of caramel malt, caramel, orange, fruit and alcohol with a slight sourness. Flavor dominated by caramel and alcohol, which transitions into pleasant caramel malt, dark and light fruit, brown sugar with a slight hop kick in the finish. Immediately warming. The initial booze is a bit overwhelming, but as the flavor transitions, this has very pleasant and well integrated flavors. A tasty barley wine that is a little unbalanced at first, but settles in to traditional English barley wine territory and finishes nicely. Medium bodied with some creaminess.

A: It poured cloudy light brown in color with lacey patterns of bubbles covering the surface. There are lots of yeast particles floating near the bottom of my snifter glass.
S: There is an aroma of caramel malts, toffee and alcohol in the nose, which intensifies as the beer warms up.
T: The initial taste is somewhat sweet and gradually transitions over some bitterness in the finish. Like the smell, there are flavors of caramel and toffee. The taste becomes more balanced between sweetness and bitterness as it warms up.
M: It feels medium-bodied on the palate, smooth and very thick. There is definitely a warming sensation from the alcohol.
D: It isn't that difficult to drink this beer, but the overall flavor doesn't stand out as being very interesting.

L (4) – Good dark reddish color. Kinda almost looks like a wine/brandy color. I like. Not much head, but I left a lot in the bottle due to yeastys.

S (4) – There’s a nice alcohol and fruity smell to this. But it smells like beer.

T (4) – I like the taste of this one. A little fruity, a little alcohol, and a little malt. I feel like it’s a little off of what a barleywine should be, but it’s very pleasant.

F (4) – A bit of a thin feel to it, but that’s okay.

O (4) – I’m far from a Barleywine connoisseur, and that one had been in my fridge for a LONG time. I finally drank it, and was glad I did. I don’t think that this would be one of my 3 deserted island beers, but I liked it well enough.

Picked this up at my favorite beer store in Belgium, Dranken Geers. 2010 vintage. An aggressive pour yields a one finger off-white head that fades quickly with a murky mahogany body with nice lacing. A subdued earthy, malty nose with hints of caramel, brown sugar, dark fruit, and just a touch of chocolate and vinous notes. The taste is malt forward with lots of caramel and brown bread along with hints of toffee, dark fruit, booze, subtle grapefruit, grape skins, and a touch of honey. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and slightly syrupy with nice carbonation and a subtle warming, bitter finish. Overall, I think this probably benefited from the cellaring. It was smooth and drinkable for such a high ABV.

Appearance - Murky brownish copper colour with small size beige coloured head.It's hard to make out the amount of carbonation and there isn't much lacing. The head lasted for only 2 minutes.

Smell - Malts, anise, caramel/butterscotch, dark fruits

Taste & Mouth - There is a below average amount of carbonation.. almost none. I can taste hops and malts mixed with buttery caramel. There is also some anise and some raisins. It ends with a malty sweet and buttery aftertaste.

Overall - It needs a boost in carbonation but the alcohol is well hidden and the beer has a nice taste. Even thought the bottle says best before end of 2012 this seems a bit past its prime. Still glad to have tried.

Bottle picked up at Whole Foods Bowery in NYC, split with Steve. 12oz bottle into a couple snifters.

Poured a rusty red with some burgundy highlights, thin offwhite head falls to a thin film and a collar. Nose has sort of a honey/honeycomb-esque malt, sweet caramel notes, booze, green (almost leafy) & vinous grape notes as well. Taste has caramel, more grapey notes, and is relatively rich altogether. Mouthfeel is sweet, sticky and boozy, as the first few sips come up through the nostrils to sting. Medium-full feel and a lower-medium carbonation. Average really.